Best cleaner for folding knives?

WadeF

WadeF

Joined
Apr 12, 2000
Messages
2,116
We had a recent discussion about Militec and other lubes, again, so I thought we should discuss the best way to clean our knives out prior to lubrication.

My concern is some of my knives have plastic washers (nylon, etc?), and I don't want to use a cleaner that would harm them. What is a good cleaner to use on our knives to get all the gunk, grease, and oil out of them?

Usually I just use soap and hot water to rinse them out.
 
Yeah, just dish soap and a toothbrush, hot water. Rinse well, dry well with a hair dryer, which also heats it up so that the militec flows right on. Oh, and try to put the hairdryer back so your wife doesn't have to use that accusatory voice when she "asks" you if you know where it it.
 
I second that. Dish soap is the best thing for oil, grease and the crud in there. It's like it was designed for that ;)
 
i've read that RJ Martin's advice on cleaning his folders was to squirt fantastik directly into the pivot area until the dark gunk runs clear, then proceed to rinse with warm water. i'm not sure whether fantastik would have a negative impact on plastic washers or not.. good idea about the hair dryer though.
 
Dawn dishwashing soap is supposed to be great on breaking down oil. I think the use it to clean the animals that get into oil spills. We had a home heating oil spill (HORRIBLE THING TO GO THROUGH, even though it was a relatively small spill and not as bad as the spill my neighbor had the very NEXT YEAR, and we share a twin home), and Dawn was one of the things recommended to clean things up with.
 
I use dish soap and warm water to clean, a paper towel to dry, and mineral oil to lube. I put some oil on the pivot and work it back and forth a bit then put a very light coat on the blade. Mineral oil also works pretty good at getting tape and adhesives off a blade.

On knives that I know will not touch food I may use 3 in 1 Oil.
 
nelsonmc said:
I use alcohol or vodka, but I'm just weird.
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we have 100% alcohol for cleaning in our lab. It's very good and will dissolve almost anything, including some plastics, so you have to be careful...
 
klattman said:
we have 100% alcohol for cleaning in our lab. It's very good and will dissolve almost anything, including some plastics, so you have to be careful...
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Yeah, but I usually take the knife apart before cleaning, actually I don't have any knives with plastics in them, hmmph. I think alcohol will also crack acrylics, right?
 
Yeah, but I usually take the knife apart before cleaning, actually I don't have any knives with plastics in them, hmmph. I think alcohol will also crack acrylics, right?
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it will not only crack acrylics but will crack and cloud plexiglass and most plastics
 
Unfortunately I don't want to try taking apart my Axis locks. I probably could handle it, but I'd be upset if I screwed up my EDC. :) So I just clean it the best I can. TufGlide seems to clean things out pretty well. Maybe a flushing with TufGlide followed by a hot soaper water rinse would be good. Then I'd heat it up with a hair dryer and apply some Militec-1.

How about Simple Green? :)
 
I've had great results with WD-40. I spray the knife until it drips, then used compressed air to remove the WD-40.

WD-40 is also great for removing the heavy packing grease from new machinery. :D
 
I use hot water if I have taken the knife apart already. If I just want a real quick job without taking it apart I will use GunScrubber, that stuff will dissolve just about anything. I have never tested it on a knife with nylon or teflon washers yet though. Just a couple of quick sprays, work it a couple of times and it is clean as can be. Then add a drop of Militec, heat and it is better than new.
 
Nylatron and teflon washers are impervious to most any solvent, including gunscrubber and alcohol, and some other things better left unnamed :p
 
yoda4561 said:
Nylatron and teflon washers are impervious to most any solvent, including gunscrubber and alcohol, and some other things better left unnamed :p
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The plastic I _know_ alcohol can melt is cellidor or the scales on a SAK. At least they are very easily replaced... You're right, I clean teflon parts and they are fine...
 
WD-40.....yum


:barf:



How 'bout a light oil and some compressed air? Works for me.
 
yes, toothbrush works great....I actually use mineral spirits and/or acetone to clean my knives. not for everybody, I know - that's why I don't recommend it usually.

The oil + air is for maintenance.
 
I recently bought a Buck 426 from an eBay seller (the 426 is a Bucklite version of the 110 produced in the 1980's). It was very difficulty to open and close (both blade and lockback) because of dried gunk in the mechanism.

I tried all the usual remedies others have described in this thread but nothing worked. I went to Lowe's to see what oils, etc. they had in stock to find inspiration, and I bought a (new?) product called DuPont Teflon Multi-Use Lubricant (4 oz bottle for about $4 or $5).

I was AMAZED. This lube is some newfangled technology I'd heard of but never seen. In a nutshell, the Teflon is a powder suspended in a liquid. It looks like milk when you squirt it on a surface, but after several minutes, it begins to dry to a crusty consistency and, after several hours, it becomes a loose powder (loose as in I could pick some off the knife with my finger, not loose as in flying off like talcum and making a mess).

I absolutely BATHED the 426 in the stuff two or three times -- blade pivot, lockback spring, almost every exposed surface. After drying, the Teflon clings to dirt and grim and can be wiped off, at which time repeated treatments got it cleaner and cleaner, and easier to open/close.

I've tried it as a "pure lube" (i.e., no repeat treatments for cleaning, just a little applied for lubrication) and it seems to work well -- makes moving parts move smoothly but without oil beading, as happens with oils or other lubes.

The only downside I can see at this point is that it's petroleum based and is toxic if swallowed, so I can't cut apples with any knife lubed with the stuff.
 
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